As a small refugee charity working in Berkshire for over 30 years, we are now witnessing daily the damage caused by a punitive immigration and asylum system that prioritises deterring people over safety and dignity.
The Government’s latest white paper, published on 12th May, fails to address the core issues of human rights, respect and compassion for our fellow human beings, instead driving destitution, homelessness and trauma among those seeking safety and sanctuary in the UK.
Through a lack of safe legal migration routes and policies like No Recourse to Public Funding, the current system pushes vulnerable people into hardship. Further restricting settlement and citizenship rights will only worsen this crisis and damage community cohesion.
Refugee Support Group stands by all refugee charities at this time as we urge the Government to adopt a compassionate, evidence-based approach that upholds justice, fairness and humanity.
People who came here for safety are being left with nothing—no home, no support and no future. The fact that billionaires have been created by providing asylum accommodation in the private sector, as UK refugee charities struggle to keep their doors open, is damning evidence that the system is broken and without real reform more and more lives will be pushed into despair at a human cost to us all.
We had hoped for positive change with a new Government.
This isn’t that change.
Nick Harborne – CEO
Refugee Support Group
